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'Endless amounts of talent': Very Prairie music summit aims to elevate local talent

Producer Duncan Pickard and music journalist Andrea Warner are both involved in the first ever Very Prairie music summit taking place in Saskatoon from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, 2018.Photo: Supplied Photos

Matt Olson

Published: November 29, 2018 - 6:00 AM

A brand-new gathering of Saskatchewan music professionals is taking place in Saskatoon to help encourage the province’s music industry grow.

The Very Prairie Saskatchewan Music Summit is taking place from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2 in the city, on the heels of the inaugural Saskatchewan Music Awards being held in Regina. The goal of the summit is to bring the expansive Saskatchewan music community together to discuss best professional practices ranging from finding revenue streams to touring and media management — areas that can help propel burgeoning musicians to new heights.

“There are all these places that will teach how how to play an instrument … but there’s not really a source to go to to teach you how to be a band,” executive director of SaskMusic Michael Dawson said.

Saskatchewan has never lacked for a variety of homegrown talent. From bands such as One Bad Son, Reignwolf and The Sheepdogs to solo stars such as Colter Wall and Buffy Sainte-Marie, there have been a number of high-calibre musical acts that start and thrive in Saskatchewan before gaining acclaim elsewhere.

The purpose of this summit, Dawson said, is to provide more and more musicians with the professional skill set to propel themselves to that level.

“It’s no secret that there’s endless amounts of talent in the province,” he said. “An event like this … allows people to access information from a whole lot of working professionals.”

Local music producer and Recording Arts Institute of Saskatoon graduate Duncan Pickard said there is some isolation for musicians in Saskatchewan looking for their “big break” simply because of the geography. The distance to bigger markets in Toronto or Vancouver — or even the closest bigger venues in Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Calgary — can make them tough for Saskatchewan-based groups to access.

Pickard said the best alternative is to strengthen the music community within the province to give musicians more resources and connections to take their music as far as they want.

“There’s going to be lots of great information on how to build your following within the community and the province,” Pickard said.

The music summit has invited professionals from both inside and outside the province to be a part of the event.

Andrea Warner, a prominent music journalist from British Columbia and the writer of the recently-published Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography, is one of the many delegates invited to the summit from outside of Saskatchewan

Warner said she has empathy for “every city and province that’s not Toronto or Ontario” because of the amount of attention the city commands from the national and international music community. But Warner also said events like this are a great chance for a music community like Saskatchewan’s to do some “community building” and “community hyping.”

“Anything that a community can do to come together and acknowledge each other in whatever fashion that is … these kinds of things give us another chance to talk about music in the media,” she said.

Warner is taking part in some panels regarding communicating with journalists and equality issues in the industry, and she said the different music communities that pop up around Saskatchewan have always impressed her. Now, they have a chance to come together for a few days in Saskatoon.